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Charity and Development Appeal 2008
Disabilities office serves those with special needs
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
April 3, 2008
When Brenda Bargmann was born, doctors told her mother to leave her at the hospital where they would transfer the infant to an institution.
Her mom refused. She knew that even though her daughter was born with Down syndrome, Brenda should be a part of home and Church life just like any other child.
And thanks to the support of her family, parish leaders and the diocesan Office of Evangelization for Persons with Disabilities, Pastoral and Cancer Care, she leads an active parish life.
The office, a diocesan ministry largely supported by the annual Charity and Development Appeal, serves parishioners with short-term or long-term disabilities and their families by making sure the Mass, religious education and parish-level ministries remain accessible.
It also hosts special retreats and other events for those with physical or mental disabilities.
“What happens in the mind doesn’t have anything to do with what happens in the soul,” said Isabella Rice, director of the office.
Brenda doesn’t let her disability stand in the way of living out her faith. Rice called her spiritual depth “phenomenal.”
Fellow parishioners feel the same way. Brenda, 44, has been a lector at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Scottsdale for five years and Mass-goers still give her a hug afterward and compliment her.
They say things like “I love the way you expound about God,” Brenda said.
“She gives God all the credit,” her mom, Evelyn, said.
Brenda strengthens her prayer life during special retreats hosted by the disabilities office and by meeting with members of Salt and Light, a diocesan small faith community for people with cognitive disabilities and their families.
Faith alive
Brenda’s faith is so alive that she often shows it on the job. Her mom said she has blessed everyone at the grocery store where she works, including some customers. Brenda frequently prays for them.
She often shares her testimony with “Everyone Counts,” a Mesa-based support group for people facing disabilities and their family members. Brenda also connected with public school students when she shared her testimony about not letting her disability slow her down.
“But because she talks about God, they wouldn’t accept her,” Evelyn said. It’s God who gave Brenda the courage and ability to speak, Evelyn added.
“The Lord has done mighty good things through her, with her and in her,” Evelyn said.
The disabilities office helps others to reach their full potential in Christ, too. It works with parishes to help people with disabilities fully participate in the liturgy.
All parishes are handicapped-accessible and 18 are equipped with enhanced hearing devices. A handful of parishes offer access assistance for the visually impaired with some others offering a weekly sign-interpreted Mass.
Parishes also work to minister to people with disabilities seeking faith formation and sacrament preparation. Children with special needs and those who are deaf can attend specially designed religious education classes at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.
Families whose children have other disabilities can also work with their pastor, religious educator director and Rice from the disabilities office to modify existing curricula. That’s what one mom at St. Anne Parish in Gilbert did this school year for her autistic son.
They determined that he would better understand his sacrament preparation through pictures. Rice obtained picture cards through the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives at the University of Dayton that explained the faith.
Evangelization
“The heart of evangelization is to help others to encounter Christ,” Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said. “Our Office of Evangelization with Persons with Disabilities focuses our efforts on reaching those who might otherwise not be invited or involved. At the same time, it helps those with disabilities to be effective evangelizers themselves.”
Rice agreed. While her office consistently relies on CDA funding to effectively minister to some of the 14 million U.S. Catholics with disabilities who live locally, she ultimately hopes to see inclusion in such a way that her office is no longer needed.
In the Church, Rice said, “nobody should feel outside of anything.”
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